Town and Country Newspaper

News Article

Make the Necessary Decisions

Written by Larry Roeder, Editor
2012-03-01

At a time when 5,000 Pennsylvania bridges are considered structurally deficient (more than any other state), another 14,000 spans considered weak (and heading for structural deficiency), more than 7,000 miles of roads in need of repair and urban mass-transit systems are struggling to keep their equipment operating and safe, officials are throwing stones at each other in a game of “Who gets the money.”

Responding to a recent complaint that mass transit in Pennsylvania’s urban areas is too heavily supported with state dollars, Barry Schoch, the Commonwealth’s transportation secretary, claimed that urban motorists also subsidize roads in rural areas. Not only do they subsidize rural roads, but they do so at a higher rate. Schoch reported that if a road doesn’t carry 10,000 vehicles a day, it is being subsidized. He didn’t cite the source of his figures.

His response was in reply to State Senator John Gordner’s (R-26) complaint that more state money was going to mass transit, out of what’s left of Act 44, than to road and bridge repairs. He didn’t cite the source of his figures.

The exchange came during a recent Senate budget hearing. Schoch also commented that bridges are inspected every two years and would be closed before becoming dangerous.

A few years ago state lawmakers passed Act 44, a plan to raise new funds for transportation. A vital piece of that plan, to establish tolls on Interstate 80, was expected to fund 45 percent of the Commonwealth’s interstate highway system. The tolls were shot down by federal lawmakers. Act 44 was also supposed to establish a stable funding source for Pennsylvania’s mass transit agencies and provide for better highway and bridge funding.

The argument for raising funds through tolls, higher fees or taxes could be matched against the higher costs for repairs, lost travel time or increased traffic congestion, but one thing is for sure. Pennsylvania taxpayers will pay – one way or the other.

What’s needed now is decisive action, not petty finger-pointing. Government officials have been doing that for decades while our transportation infrastructure keeps getting worse.

Priority repair and replacement needs to be determined and action needs to commence now. How many times have we heard and read about transportation “pet projects” that were implemented because of the elected official or officials it benefited most bypassing other projects with a critical safety need?

Bridges that are ready to collapse are a higher priority for repair or replacement than a cosmetic facelift of Philadelphia’s City Hall subway station. The old excuse “We only have enough money to do the less expensive project” doesn’t hold water. If nothing else, state officials have showed us that if they don’t have enough money to do the project this year, unless they plan for it, they won’t have the money next year either.

Now is the time to stop bickering and focus on the tasks the need to be done now.

Don’t wait until someone gets hurt or worse. Stop the finger pointing and work together for the people. Start making the necessary decisions.

Return to Previous Page